Life Cycle Assessment of Different Types of Anesthetic

May 4, 2026 updated by: University of Alberta

Life Cycle Assessment of General Anesthetic, Regional Anesthetic and the Combination of General Anesthetic and Regional Anesthetic: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Following Ethics approval, all adult patients undergoing surgery to fix the wrist fracture will be approached and consent to undergo this study. The amount of waste generated from general anesthetic, regional anesthetic and regional+general anesthetic will be collected and weighed.

Patients undergoing this type of wrist surgery have only regional anesthetic, or general anesthetic, or both ie. regional anesthetic and general anesthetic.

The aim of the study is to compare the amount of waste generated from each type of anesthetic and this will give us a better idea of which anesthetic is more environmentally sustainable.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Following Ethics approval, all adult patients undergoing surgery to fix the wrist fracture will be approached and consent to undergo this study. The amount of waste generated from general anesthetic, regional anesthetic and regional+general anesthetic will be collected and weighed. Waste will include disposable and reusable wastes. Examples of disposable waste are all plastic packaging, syringes, needles, breathing tube, breathing circuits, gloves as well as drugs. Examples of reusable waste will be anesthetic face mask, laryngeal mask (which is a form of airway device that can be reprocessed), sterile gowns. The amount of anesthetic gas used will be obtained from the anesthetic machine.

Patients undergoing this type of wrist surgery have only regional anesthetic (freezing performed higher up in the arm to numb the whole arm for several hours), or general anesthetic (patient completely goes to deep anesthetic sleep), or both ie. regional anesthetic (freezing just for pain control afterwards) and general anesthetic (patient goes to deep anesthetic sleep after the freezing is done and they may need less pain killer during the surgery as well as afterwards).

The amount of waste generated will be compared amongst these 3 groups by life cycle analysis.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
        • University of Alberta Hospital
      • St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, T8N 6C4
        • Sturgeon Community Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

15 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All adult patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation of wrist
  • ASA 1-3

Exclusion Criteria:

  • no contraindications for general anesthetic in the group for general anesthetic and vice versa

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Regional anesthetic
Patients only have nerve block with or without sedation
Other: Regional anesthetic
Patient having just the nerve block for surgery
Other: General anesthetic
Patients only have general anesthetic
Other: General anesthetic
Patient having just general anesthetic ie. 'go completely under' for surgery
Other: Combined general anesthetic and regional anesthetic
Patients have both general anesthetic and regional anesthetic together
Other: Combined general anesthetic and regional anesthetic
Patient having a combination of a nerve block and general anesthetic for surgery

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Carbon dioxide emission
Time Frame: During surgical intervention
Amount of carbon dioxide emission
During surgical intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Generation of solid waste
Time Frame: During surgical intervention
Solid waste generated within the type of anesthetic
During surgical intervention
Duration of surgery
Time Frame: During surgical intervention
Duration of surgery
During surgical intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Alberta

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 2, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 11, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 17, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

May 23, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 4, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00118522

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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